A Theory of Everything Else
by WolfAtSea
Summary: The silly girl wouldn't step aside. "Curious – you are so willing to die for your son … but are you brave enough to live for him?"" Intrigued, the Dark Lord takes a 22-year-old Lily Potter and baby Harry captive in his private home. Questionable Stockholm syndrome, potions, dark arts, banquets, rebellions, a lot of grey – a very different Wizarding Britain
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

The silly girl wouldn't stand aside.

"No, not Harry – not Harry! Take me – take me instead – please!"

Her screams were grating on his ears. He felt his anger bubbling up to a dangerous level – first her worthless Auror husband and now this!

"I said – stand aside! One last time – stand aside and I will not harm –"

But she wouldn't.

He was beyond his limit. He raised his wand, the two-word curse at the tip of his tongue. Everyone knew what happened should they stand in _his_ way, and the mudblood had made her choice. But something – there was something – something stopped him; tiny green sparks shot out through the tip of his wand and fizzled out.

Time seemed to still.

The mother stood in front of the crib, her furious red hair undone; her startling greens eyes the shade of the killing curse, wet with tears, wide with fear. But she was not afraid, was she? Not afraid for herself … She clutched her wand in a death grip but her arm hung limp at her side; she wasn't going to fight him – she knew she couldn't hope to win. Smart girl – unlike her bloodtraitor husband. But she wouldn't move aside either. What does that make her?

The child was standing up in his crib, staring at the adults in the room with eerie, unblinking eyes – he had his mother's eyes – and he didn't seem scared. Anxious, maybe, but not afraid. His chubby little face and his innocence – disgusting. What power could this infant possibly possess – power that he, the greatest wizard alive, knew not? The child was still staring. It was unnerving, if he so choose to admit to himself.

" _Please_ …" The mudblood dared break the silence. She was begging. One of Dumbledore's finest, and she was begging – it was exquisite, and yet… Something shifted within him. He lowered his wand, just an inch, thoughtful.

"… You're so wiling to die for your son. I wonder –" He paused, finding his own voice strange, somehow. Chilly air blew in mercilessly from the open window, tousling her fiery hair. She no longer seemed so terrified. "… are you brave enough to _live_ for him?" Her stare was level and there was an intensity to it that he was only used to seeing in the mirror.

"Anything." She whispered, not quite an answer to the question he asked out loud. Her tears continued to flow but her voice was steady. "I'd do _anything_." And he had little doubt that she would.

"So be it." His lips morphed into some semblance of a smile. He'd been told it was terrifying; lesser men had run away screaming, but this peculiar girl in front of him, she was … something else.

Wordlessly, he lifted his wand just a hair and her weapon came flying to him. "Take the boy and follow me." And she obeyed.

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 **[To be continued]**


	2. One - Everything

**Chapter 1 - Everything**

Lily Potter promised herself she wouldn't cry – not again, not in front of Harry, not in front of _him_. Lily Potter promised herself that she would be brave.

"Take the boy and follow me."

The staircase felt like a thousand miles long. Harry was quiet in her arms, sweet as always. He had little idea what was going on. Maybe it was just a game … Lily had her hands over her son's eyes so that he wouldn't see –

And then she saw – James lying on the ground; James' wand still in his hand; James' eyes staring up at the ceiling, empty. Again her tears fell like a silent waterfall until _he_ turned around.

"We don't have much time, _Potter_ – your precious little Order is coming."

Lily Potter had just lost everything.

The burden she was carrying suddenly felt like lead. Her frozen brain registered walking to the door but her legs might as well moved on her own accord. The howling October wind was scratchy and biting into her skin but she didn't feel it. The ringing in her ears wouldn't stop. She wondered what it would feel like to lie among broken wood, dead and empty and – and _free_. For one moment, it sounded enticing.

Then a pair of tiny hands grasped hers, tugging, soft but insistent. She moved her hand mechanically and, all of a sudden, she was staring into two pools of emerald green. It was like looking into the mirror. Harry smiled – he always did liked to see, liked to know what was going on – as if he was happy to see her. He was happy to see her and the whole messed up world was right. At that moment, she knew, clear as day, that she hadn't lost everything after all.

Her husband's killer slashed down with his wand once and their wooden cottage burst into flames sky high and she screamed – but only in her head. Strong hands clasped her shoulders and turned her on the spot and her life as she knew it was well and truly over, but she just held her son tighter and she didn't struggle and she didn't break.

Lily Evans knew she wouldn't cry any more.

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 **A/N: Another short one, but I thought I'd just put it out there as a first look into Lily's thoughts. The next chapter will be much longer, and we will get into Lily and Harry's peculiar new life. Also our favourite house elf will make his entrance! I haven't decided if this story should end "happily" yet. Thoughts?**


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